Apple's AI Struggles: Siri Overhaul Delayed, Company Shifts Strategy

Apple's Siri Struggle: New Report Exposes Reasons Behind Recent Problems

A lot has been said about Siri in the past year after Apple failed to deliver on its promise of a supercharged voice assistant. Multiple delays and three lawsuits later, we now have some inside information on what went wrong at Cupertino. According to Bloomberg, Apple had rushed the development of its AI features after OpenAI's ChatGPT launch in 2022, and things began falling apart when the team tried merging Siri's old code with the new one. Sources tell Gurman that Apple had no plans to launch Apple Intelligence until ChatGPT arrived. They say Apple's software chief, Craig Federighi, realized the chatbot's potential a month after its launch when he used it to write code for a personal project. Soon, Federighi, along with Apple's then AI head, John Giannandrea, and a few other executives, started meeting with OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI companies to learn more about these AI models. Federighi also told his team that iOS 18 should infuse as many AI-powered features into an iPhone as possible. Giannandrea then assembled a team and started working on building large language models (LLMs) for AI features. However, as Apple inched closer to Apple Intelligence's debut in June 2024, internal tests showed that the chatbot lagged significantly behind ChatGPT, with OpenAI's product delivering 25% better accuracy. The desperate need for AI forced Apple to look for partners. For stronger user privacy, Giannandrea suggested Google, but Apple went on and announced OpenAI as their first AI partner at WWDC 24. Many AI-powered features were announced at the June event, including the ability to summon ChatGPT for requests Siri can't fulfill. A delay pushed that feature to December 2024, but many others that were announced are still MIA -- resulting in lawsuits and a new chapter in Apple's ever-growing Siri struggles. Some Apple Intelligence features were too buggy when Federighi started testing them on his personal phone before iOS 18.4. Worse was the communication between Apple's product development and marketing teams. Apple had to pull down TV ads of iPhone 16 features that were nowhere close to being ready. Internally, Giannandrea has absorbed much of the blame for Siri's failure. Several employees claim that Giannandrea lacked urgency for generative AI since he believed that consumers don't trust it enough and that AI agents are far away from replacing humans. Some employees also blame Giannandrea for not fighting hard to get the best talent or a bigger budget for his projects. Unlike Apple's other leaders, who are strong personalities and run the company like a family business, Giannandrea is low-key, others say. "JG should have been much, much more aggressive in getting funding to go big. But John's not a salesman. He's a technologist," an Apple employee tells Bloomberg. Giannandrea didn't push his team enough, says another Apple executive. Giannandrea has blamed the marketing team for overhyping unfinished products, employees say. Aside from these issues, Siri's code was seen to have a major technical flaw. To add AI features, Apple engineers split Siri's infrastructure in half. When they tried to merge Siri's new AI features with legacy features, such as setting the alarm, things started falling apart. The morale within the team has been low. "We're not even being told what's happening or why... There's no leadership." one employee says. CEO Tim Cook eventually lost faith in Giannandrea and replaced him with Vision Pro's head, Mike Rockwell, in March. Apple has continued work on Siri after shuffling personnel. A team in Zurich is creating a new software architecture built entirely on an LLM-based engine, and the project is called LLM Siri. Their aim is to make Siri more conversational and better at processing information. In the EU, Apple will also let users replace Siri with third-party assistants, according to a source.

Gurman: Siri upgrades 'unlikely to be discussed much' at WWDC next month, more - 9to5Mac

In a new, lengthy report regarding Apple's AI strategy, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has detailed a number of strategic failures for the launch of Apple Intelligence. As many of us have already believed, Apple was caught off-guard by the new generative AI trend. Additionally, according to Gurman, Apple is 'unlikely' to spend a lot of time talking about Siri at this years WWDC. That includes future upgrades and the already announced (but since delayed) features from last years WWDC. I won't be summarizing the entire report, so if you'd like to read it in full - you can do so here. In short, Apple software chief Craig Federighi didn't believe a ton in AI. He was "reluctant" to invest a lot into the technology, and didn't see it as a "core capability." In Federighi's eyes, it'd take away from everything else without actually paying off. This wasn't just a Craig Federighi thing, though: Other leaders shared Federighi's reservations. "In the world of AI, you really don't know what the product is until you've done the investment," another longtime executive says. "That's not how Apple is wired. Apple sits down to build a product knowing what the endgame is." The report also claims that while other executives were "convinced" AI would be "revolutionary", they were unable to convince Federighi. A lot of it "fell on deaf ears." On top of that, Apple AI chief John Giannandrea was never truly able to hit the ground running. When he started at Apple, he concluded that Apple would need to spend a lot more money than it currently is. However, his efforts were "often stymied." As for how Apple plans to bounce back from this strategic failure, well - we won't find out quite yet. According to Gurman, that won't be too big of a focus at next months WWDC, where Apple will announce iOS 19 and more: Significant upgrades to Siri -- including the ones promised nearly a year ago -- are unlikely to be discussed much and are still months away from shipping. The report reaffirms that Apple plans on adding additional Apple Intelligence capabilities to other apps, and that the company is also planning on adding an AI powered battery optimization tool. Apple also plans on launching Project Mulberry, a virtual health coach. Apple also is working on implementing a new capability for European Union residents: the ability to ditch Siri entirely. Instead of having Siri as your voice assistant, you'll be able to use third-party options. Specific third-party options weren't named, but it's worth noting that this will be a distinct feature from the already-existing ChatGPT integration in Siri. Last but not least, Apple is continuing to work on its new "LLM Siri" infrastructure, which'll fix a lot of the engineering mess that got us to severely-delayed Siri in the first place. Despite that, the company wants to separate Siri from Apple Intelligence in its marketing efforts: The Apple sources say the company, despite its hopes for LLM Siri, is also preparing to separate the Apple Intelligence brand from Siri in its marketing. It's a tacit admission that the voice assistant's poor reputation isn't helping the company's AI messaging. Apple also wants to stop touting features more than a few months before they're able to launch, according to the report.

Siri Rumored to Take a Backseat at WWDC 2025

Apple is likely to keep discussion of Siri to a minimum at WWDC 2025 as it focuses on other Apple Intelligence enhancements, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett. Apple will apparently focus on improving existing Apple Intelligence capabilities and adding some new ones, such as an AI-optimized battery management mode and a virtual health coach. Google Gemini is also on track to be added as a ChatGPT alternative for Siri in iOS 19. Other upgrades to Siri, including the ones announced a year prior that include personal context and the ability to complete complex, multi-step actions, are "unlikely to be discussed much." The features are still "months away" from being released. Apple is also reportedly planning to "separate the Apple Intelligence brand from Siri in its marketing," owing to concerns that users' negative experience with Siri is harming opinions about Apple Intelligence as a whole. To help improve existing Apple Intelligence features, users' iPhones now apparently help improve Apple's synthetic data, the report explains. A set of artificial data is assessed and enhanced by comparing it to the language from users' iPhones to provide real-world reference points for AI training, without feeding in actual user information. Similarly, in Texas, Spain, and Ireland, thousands of analysts are purportedly reviewing Apple Intelligence summaries for accuracy by comparing its output against the source material. The company wants to determine how often the system is producing the distorted or inaccurate responses. Apple's WWDC 2025 keynote is scheduled for Monday, June 9, where the company will preview iOS 19, macOS 16, and other major software updates and features for its devices.

Apple's AI rollout has not gone very smoothly -- and this report details what's happened

The subject of Siri, and the upgrades Apple promised back at WWDC 2024, has been pretty hot the past few months. Ever since Apple had to delay the rollout of Siri's AI-infused upgrades, on account of it taking "longer than [Apple] thought." Well, it sounds like this might be a learning experience for Apple. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett have a mammoth report on Apple's Siri fiasco, and the rollout of what is apparently internally known as "LLM Siri." In fact, due to all the high-profile delays, both reporters say that Apple isn't going to be announcing new features so far in advance from now on. It sounds like this is the same lesson Apple should have learned with the AirPower charger, which was announced back in 2017 and then never got released. All because Apple announced the charger too early, before it realized it wasn't actually able to make it. The report goes into a lot of detail, but I will try to explain the situation behind Apple's AI blunders as simply as possible. One key problem is that Apple started off late and, as previous leaks have claimed, the sudden popularity of services like ChatGPT caught the company by surprise. In fact, despite having an AI department for many years previously, Apple hadn't even considered the concept of Apple Intelligence before the release of ChatGPT in 2022. Following that, it seemed Apple had to scramble to catch up -- all while the rest of the tech industry was doing the same. Before the launch of ChatGPT, Apple's software head Craig Federighi was reluctant to invest in what was needed to improve Apple's AI capabilities -- especially since there was no end goal. According to sources, it wasn't until after ChatGPT was released and Federighi used generative AI in one of his projects that the benefits became clear to him. That led to a sudden pivot towards generative-AI features for the then-upcoming iOS 18. Despite the pivot to LLMs, it became clear that Apple wasn't going to be able to catch up -- and Apple's chatbot was lagging behind the likes of ChatGPT and Gemini. One way Apple attempted to catch up was to bolt the new LLM Siri onto the Old Siri, which is the biggest problem with rolling out the new feature to iOS. It was described by sources as "whack-a-mole", with three bugs popping up every time an old problem was fixed. Apparently, individual features look good, but integrating them as a whole "Siri" assistant causes everything to fall apart. So it's no surprise that the new LLM Siri has been delayed as much as it has. Apple's AI chief, John Giannandrea, has taken much of the blame for Apple's AI faults since he isn't a "forceful" personality like other executives. Not only does this mean he's alleged to have not fought hard enough for funding for the AI department, but employees also claim that he isn't actually pushing the team hard enough. This is partly because he doesn't see rival chatbot makers as serious threats to Apple, but also potentially because he doesn't believe chatbots are the kind of features consumers actually want. However, Giannandrea has claimed that Siri's failure is not on him -- and should be placed on Apple's marketing teams for overhyping and focusing on features that weren't finished. Apparently, this is something product managers are responsible for finalizing, which in this case would be Federighi. And the final insult is that Apple was a little too conservative in buying the GPUs necessary for AI processing. Apparently, this led to Apple's rivals buying up all the supply, and the lack of GPUs meant Apple's models were trained a lot more slowly as a result. The one thing the report makes clear is that Apple is "unlikely" to spend much time talking about Siri at WWDC 2025. Even the features that have already been announced, but have yet to materialize, are still "months away" from shipping. If there's anything Apple's good at, it's brushing its defeats under the rug and ploughing forward. So expect WWDC to focus on iOS 19, which is expected to get a major redesign, and other features ready to go when the update arrives this fall. We may even hear more about changes coming to Apple Intelligence, but if this report is accurate, we shouldn't expect a repeat of last year. Which we can all agree is a good thing. The promise of Apple Intelligence is all well and good, but people don't really like buying promises, especially when those promises can be broken.

Apple plans to offer AI alternatives as it works to overhaul Siri

The all-new Siri won't be ready for a while, so Apple give you other AI options. Mark Gurman and Dave Bennett have an interesting feature at Bloomberg about Apple's AI struggles. It is primarily a summary of the last several months' reporting on how Apple fell behind in AI, why it failed to deliver on its iOS 18 promises, and how it's shaking up the organization to get back on track. But there are a few new or updated bits of information in there, even for those who have been paying attention to this drama. The report paints the picture of a company that is dramatically overhauling Siri, which will take time. In the meantime, the company plans to offer users a variety of options in AI tools. We previously reported, Apple is working on a huge Siri overhaul. The current version of Siri is a "hybrid" model of sorts, with different models to handle simple iPhone commands and more sophisticated AI queries. Apple now has AI-centered offices in Zurich that are working on a new "all LLM" (large language model) version of Siri that will handle everything with one sophisticated engine. This Siri is said to be conversational and much better at understanding information and taking actions. The company has in the past been reluctant to even pursue Siri as an alternative to today's chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini, but that thinking has changed and it is racing ahead. Work appears to be going well, with Gurman and Bennett reporting that, "the chatbot the company has been testing internally has made significant strides over the past six months, to the point that some executives see it as on par with recent versions of ChatGPT." It's still a long way from release, however. It won't be ready to show off at WWDC next month, and won't be a part of iOS 19. In fact, the report says, Siri is going to take a back seat at WWDC, in favor of other AI enhancements like battery management and a health coach. That will be disappointing for Apple fans who have taken to making Siri failures a meme, and are at least looking for Apple to patch up the current version into something less embarrassing. While we wait for "LLM Siri," Apple plans to offer alternatives. In most of the world, requests that Siri can't handle can be sent to ChatGPT for an answer, and it is used in the Visual Intelligence feature as well. Bloomberg once again states that Apple will add Google's Gemini as an option in addition to ChatGPT in iOS 19, and what's more, the company is in "early talks" with Perplexity to add it as another ChatGPT alternative for Siri, and as a search provider in Safari. Apple seems to know how bad Siri's reputation has gotten, at least. According to the report, the company is going to work to separate Siri from the overall Apple Intelligence brand in its marketing, because the Siri brand isn't helping. Apple will also close the gap between when it announces new features and when they are available, to avoid the embarrassing slip-up of this past year, where it promised Siri features last June that still haven't materialized. Apple will kick off WWDC with a keynote on June 9 to showcase the Apple Intelligence features coming in the next year.

'This is a crisis': New Apple report claims we'll get no Siri upgrades at WWDC 2025 due to AI turmoil

If you were excited about seeing Apple's AI-powered Siri at WWDC in June, think again. A new report claims we won't get a glimpse of any Apple Intelligence voice assistant improvements next month. According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple's new Siri, which was previously expected to launch at the beginning of 2025, and instead was indefinitely delayed, will not be part of next month's WWDC keynote. Instead, Apple is expected to focus on new Apple Intelligence features, such as a rumored Battery Intelligence, which will help extend your device's battery life through the power of AI. It's claimed one senior member of Apple's AI team told Bloomberg, "This is a crisis," while another said Apple's AI strategy has been "sinking for a long time." Bloomberg says it has seen internal data which shows Apple "remains years behind its competition," despite an internal shakeup and a new approach to its Siri strategy. While we're unlikely to see anything related to Siri, it could be the case of "good things come to those who wait," as this in-depth report from Gurman gives a deeper insight into Apple's new AI strategy and the powerful tool the company is working on. According to Bloomberg, "Employees say Apple now has its AI offices in Zurich creating a new software architecture to replace the problematic Siri hybrid -- a so-called monolithic model, entirely built on an LLM-based engine, that would eventually make Siri more believably conversational and better at synthesizing information." That project is codenamed LLM Siri, and would be a major upgrade to the voice assistant compared to not only what we currently have on the best iPhones, but even in comparison to the initial promise Apple showcased at WWDC 2024. It's claimed Apple is training this LLM with synthetic data that allows the company to train the AI "without feeding actual user information into the models." At WWDC 2025, we can expect Apple to show improvements to Apple Intelligence, while "sources say the company, despite its hopes for LLM Siri, is also preparing to separate the Apple Intelligence brand from Siri in its marketing." Personally, I'm still optimistic Apple will turn its recent AI shortcomings around. If that means waiting longer for LLM Siri and functionality that allows me to truly harness the power of AI on my iPhone, then I'm willing to wait. Apple, don't let me down.

Why We're Not Getting That AI-Powered Siri Anytime Soon

If you were under the assumption that Siri was soon going to be supercharged with AI, you wouldn't be alone. In fact, Apple has advertised as much since last WWDC, showing off its ChatGPT-like assistant in commercials and promotional materials. It's been nearly a year since WWDC 2024, and that new Siri is still not here. The thing is, it likely won't be for a long time. How long is anyone's guess (I've been tracking the delays here), but one thing seems for certain: Apple is not showing off AI Siri at next month's WWDC 2025. In Mark Gurman's latest piece for Bloomberg, he describes a chaotic situation regrading Apple's AI department. The piece is a fascinating and in-depth look at Apple's AI woes, and I won't give a detailed summary of the entire article. However, I will briefly discuss what's going on, and how it related to AI Siri: Executive leadership at Apple, including senior vice president of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, didn't believe AI was worth the investment, and didn't want to allocate resources away from Apple's core software components in order to develop the technology. But once Federighi used ChatGPT following its late 2022 launch, he did a 180. He and other Apple executives began meeting with the big AI companies to learn everything they could, and pushed for iOS 18 to have "as many AI-powered features as possible." While Apple's AI department already existed before this scramble (the company had poached Google's artificial intelligence chief John Giannandrea), the engineers simply couldn't match the quality or accuracy of the tools provided by other companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google, who had a huge head start on generative AI. That lag manifested in two ways: First, many of the AI features that Apple did bring to market were half-baked. Apple Intelligence's notification summaries feature, for example, infamously made some major mistakes, such as "summarizing" a BBC news alert to say that United Healthcare shooting suspect Luigi Mangione had shot himself. (Apple later disabled the feature for news alerts.) Second, because Apple couldn't rely on its own tech to carry Apple Intelligence, they outsourced some tech to another AI company. While there was much debate about which company they should work with (Giannandrea wanted to work with Google and bring Gemini to iOS), Apple eventually settled for ChatGPT -- which is why OpenAI's bot is built into your iPhone today. Apple's lack of AI focus meant they missed the rush to acquire GPUs -- the main processing unit used for training and running AI models. They also have strict privacy policies when it comes to user data, which severely limits what data they can use to train their models. (Some might say that's actually a good thing, and take a pause to think about the companies that do have a plethora of data to train with.) While Apple was able to get some AI features working "well" enough to ship, Siri was never among them. In order to bring AI to Siri, the company had to split Siri's "brain" in two -- one featuring the existing code, used for traditional Siri tasks like setting timers and making calls, and the other for AI. While the AI-side in a vacuum can work, integrating it with the other half of Siri's brain is problematic, and is the cause of much of the delay. But rather than wait until Apple figured out how to get AI Siri working to actually show off its new features, the company went ahead and marketed them heavily. During WWDC 2024, we saw prerecorded demos of Siri taking complex requests, and generating helpful answers by accessing both a knowledge base about the user in question, as well as an awareness of what was happening on-screen. A prime example was an Apple employee asking Siri about their mom's travel itinerary: Siri dove through the employee's messages with their mom to draw up the plans. Apple even hired Bella Ramsey of The Last of Us to promote AI Siri features: In the commercial, Ramsey sees someone at a party they recognize but don't remember the name of. Ramsey then asks Siri "What's the name of the guy I had a meeting with a couple of months ago at Cafe Granel?" Siri immediately responds with the acquaintance's name, pulling from a calendar entry. Ramsey doesn't need to say the exact date or where to pull the information from, since AI Siri is presumably contextually aware, and can understand vague responses. (Apple has since deleted the ad from its YouTube account Since then, AI features have trickled in on various iOS 18 updates, but not AI Siri. We've been following reports (mostly from Gurman) that Apple's engineers were having trouble getting it to work, and each delay pushed AI Siri's release to the next major iOS 18 update. At one point, we thought it could come with iOS 18.4: As Gurman reports in this latest piece, that was the plan, but Federighi himself was surprised to see that the AI Siri features didn't work on a beta for 18.4. Siri's big AI upgrade was delayed again, and now "indefinitely." There are no plans to announce Siri's new features alongside iOS 19 next month. While the goal is to get AI Siri out for iOS 19 at some point, the situation is dire -- Siri's features reportedly don't work a third of the time, and every time you fix one of Siri's major bugs, "three more crop up." Gurman's sources say Apple has an AI department in Zurich working on a new LLM-based Siri that scraps the two-sided brain of the current assistant. Siri also has a new leader, Mike Rockwell, who replaced Giannandrea this spring. Some sources even say that Apple's internal chatbot is now rivaling ChatGPT, which could prove useful if integrated with Siri. There are reasons to be mildly optimistic about Siri's long-term future, but there's no denying the last year has been a disaster. If you're excited for Siri's next big development, lower your expectations for the short-term.

Apple Unlikely to Discuss Advanced Siri Upgrades at WWDC 2025: Report

Apple has yet to release advanced AI upgrades for Siri announced in 2024 Apple is unlikely to announce advanced upgrades to its Siri voice assistant at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2025) next month, according to a report. The company is said to be focusing on improvements to existing Apple Intelligence features and add a couple of new ones with the iOS 19 update, which is expected to roll out to users later this year. Apple will also be more cautious while announcing new features in advance, after it faced delays while rolling out an advanced version of Siri showcased at WWDC 2024. Citing sources at the company, a Bloomberg report states that Apple will focus on improving Apple Intelligence features that it has already rolled out to users, instead of unveiling major AI upgrades at WWDC 2025 in June. The company is said to be working on at least two new features, which are expected to arrive with the upcoming iOS 19 update. The company is expected to announce a new AI-powered feature that estimates the time required to charge an iPhone at WWDC 2025. It is also likely to unveil a new virtual coach to the Health app, which could use AI to analyse data collected by an Apple Watch and other available information to provide health insights, according to the report. Apple is reportedly working on marketing Siri and Apple Intelligence separately, despite its efforts to build a more advanced voice assistant. The iPhone maker is expected to be more cautious while announcing new features, and these will only be revealed a few months before they are ready to be shipped. Last year, Apple announced a slew of AI upgrades coming to eligible iPhone, iPad, and Mac computers. While the company has shipped a few features such as Genmoji, Writing Tools, Clean Up (Photos), and support for summarising notifications, the biggest upgrade -- an AI-powered Siri -- is yet to roll out to customers. A recent report revealed that Apple is not likely to release the AI features unveiled at WWDC 2024 until next year. The company's assistant is already behind rival software from Google and Microsoft, as well as AI-focused firms like Perplexity and OpenAI. We can expect to learn more about Apple's upcoming software features and updates at WWDC 2025, which begins on June 9.

Apple is Building a New LLM-Powered Siri from Scratch

The company is investing more in AI, and the new Siri will also be able to access the web like Perplexity. There is no doubt that Apple's plan to roll out its "Intelligence" features along with the improved Siri has been nothing short of a disaster, even calling for a lawsuit. Now, it seems like the company is ready to get serious about AI, and their first approach is building a completely new LLM-powered Siri from the ground up. This report comes from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who did a deep dive into Apple's forthcoming AI plans and why the Cupertino Giant couldn't deliver a successful product in the first place. According to Gurman, Apple failed to ride the AI joy train like other tech giants, pointing to a lack of confidence in this field of tech. Apple Intelligence wasn't even a thing until late 2022 when ChatGPT showed up. The company was also reluctant to invest heavily in the GPUs required to run these AI models. Apple's AI chief, John Giannandrea, didn't think people would want chatbots on their phones. Moreover, the company kept trying to outfit the old Siri with new AI tricks, which kept causing more issues. An Apple employee told Gurman, "It's whack-a-mole. You fix one issue, and three more crop up," discussing the new Siri. Now, the iPhone maker is reinvigorating its approach, working on an LLM-based Siri, which will be "more believably conversational and better at synthesizing information". Something that we already talked about earlier. Another way Apple will improve the LLM Siri is by letting it loose on the web. This will allow it to "grab and synthesize data from multiple sources", like Perplexity. So it is clear that the company is rethinking its strategy and plans to fix its messed-up release of AI. And it is only a matter of time before we see this improved Siri. What are your thoughts on the story? Do you think Apple has any chance of making things right with its customers? Let us know in the comments below.

Apple's Siri AI upgrade unlikely to debut at WWDC 2025: Report

In a detailed new report on Apple's AI initiatives, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reveals internal challenges, leadership conflicts, and postponements that have slowed the company's development of Apple Intelligence. Apple, which was an early mover with Siri, has gradually lagged behind in the fast-evolving AI landscape. Gurman notes that the company was slow to embrace the rise of generative AI, partly due to initial skepticism from key leaders such as software head Craig Federighi. He was reportedly "reluctant" to invest heavily, believing AI wasn't a "core capability" and that it might divert focus from Apple's other priorities. Several senior executives reportedly expressed similar reservations, with one longtime leader noting that AI requires upfront investment without a clear picture of the end product -- an approach that conflicted with Apple's traditional product-first mindset. Despite some viewing AI as a "revolutionary" shift, their attempts to convince Federighi were said to have had little impact. Apple's AI chief John Giannandrea, who joined from Google in 2018, also faced internal friction. While he pushed for greater investment and tried to unify AI efforts under a single division, his progress was often hindered, according to the report. Apple Intelligence was introduced at WWDC 2023 with features like writing assistance, smart notifications, custom emoji, and Siri upgrades. The initiative, dubbed "AI for the rest of us" in nod to the original Mac slogan, faced delays as most of its features missed their planned launch dates. For example: Siri's much-awaited upgrade has been delayed repeatedly. Gurman notes that in early 2025, Federighi tested iOS 18.4 and found that many highlighted features -- such as retrieving a driver's license number via voice -- weren't functioning. Internal demos had shown pre-recorded videos instead of working tech. The release was postponed indefinitely. Apple continued promoting these features, leading to class-action lawsuits alleging false advertising. Gurman reports that Apple is "unlikely" to focus much on Siri during WWDC 2025. Promised updates remain months away from launch. Rather than major changes, Apple plans to launch iOS 19 and gradually expand Apple Intelligence capabilities to additional apps. Planned updates include: Despite this, Apple reportedly intends to separate Siri from the Apple Intelligence brand in marketing -- an acknowledgment that Siri's reputation may hurt its AI efforts. The company prefers not to reveal features long before they are ready to launch. Gurman's report goes deeper, noting that Apple has fewer AI-focused staff and less investment in GPUs compared to rivals. Efforts to acquire companies like Mobileye Global Inc. failed to materialize. Although Apple built the Apple Neural Engine as part of its car project, many plans, including autonomous driving, were ultimately shelved. Some insiders likened the company's AI struggles to a "sinking ship." Apple's traditional approach -- meticulously building polished products -- hasn't worked well in the fast-moving world of AI. Longtime executive Eddy Cue reportedly warned that Apple's dominance is at risk. In his testimony, Cue expressed concern that the iPhone could be irrelevant within ten years. Siri, once a promising innovation introduced just before Steve Jobs' passing, never fully evolved. While Jobs envisioned it as a key user interface, post-launch development focused on basic tasks. Early ambitions, such as becoming a seamless "do engine," faded as Apple emphasized other machine learning projects like Maps, Photos, and biometric features. Efforts to integrate AI more deeply into iOS around 2014 reportedly met resistance from Federighi. While Apple acquired smaller AI startups like Turi and Tuplejump, its overall investment lagged behind competitors. Some executives now see this as part of a deeper structural issue: AI's demand for rapid development and experimentation doesn't fit Apple's traditional model. Gurman concludes that while Apple still holds significant resources and market presence, its delays and missteps in AI have cost it leadership in a fast-evolving space. He believes Apple will continue expanding Apple Intelligence over the coming years -- but not without more internal restructuring, clearer strategy, and timely execution. Gurman expects Apple to make a stronger AI push soon, but for now, much of its vision remains a work in progress.

Apple may completely revamp Siri with own LLM support and more advanced AI features: Report

Apple's Zurich team is working on a new LLM-based Siri, which may debut at WWDC 2025. Apple is reportedly working on changing Siri, its voice assistant, following years of technical setbacks and strategic missteps that have left the company trailing in the ongoing AI race. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the company has rethought its entire AI strategy, with internal disagreements, missed opportunities, and leadership conflicts impeding progress. According to the report citing sources, Apple's AI chief John Giannandrea, who was hired from Google in 2018, has been removed from Siri development and other major AI initiatives. The report also stated that the company's goals were allegedly at odds with his leadership style and reluctance to adopt AI chatbots like ChatGPT. Furthermore, Apple's software chief Craig Federighi was initially hesitant to invest heavily in AI without clear goals, which slowed necessary infrastructure upgrades, it added. Also read: OnePlus 13s India launch date set for June 5: Check expected price, specs here The report also stated that Siri's technical architecture was a barrier. The company stated that rather than rebuilding the assistant for generative AI capabilities, it chose to add new features to the existing system, a strategy that reportedly failed. The engineers referred to the process as "whack-a-mole," with fixes for one problem resulting in multiple new ones. Apple is reportedly betting on a fresh start, with its AI team in Zurich working on a new Siri architecture based entirely on a large language model (LLM) engine. This means Siri will be more conversational and able to synthesise information in real time. However, according to reports, Apple may use iPhones to train AI on user data through differential policy. Competitors, such as Google, are already dominant in the AI space. While it may take some time for Apple to catch up, this year's WWDC could be interesting, as Apple plans to announce AI features in iOS 19.